Greater Manchester PEEL 2017

Police officers and staff in Greater Manchester Police understand well the importance of treating the public fairly and with respect, and those we spoke with demonstrated a good understanding of unconscious bias and effective communication skills. The force monitors its use of stop and search powers to ensure that officers are acting proportionately, lawfully and ethically, but further work is needed by the force to improve the recording of the grounds for conducting searches. Senior leaders monitor the use of force by officers in line with national guidance. The use of such powers is also subject to external scrutiny by local IAGs and the ethics committee, which advises the elected mayor for Greater Manchester. The force monitors those incidents in which effective tactical communications skills have been used successfully in avoiding escalation to the use of physical force.

Leaders in Greater Manchester Police were generally seen by the workforce to set, display and maintain ethical values and behaviours. The force has an internal standards board as well as an independent ethics committee, which are used to provide both direction and challenge in terms of ensuring that decisions and policies are ethical. The complaint procedure is accessible, although our review of files found the force needs to improve the way it keeps complainants updated on the progress of their case. We were also disappointed to find that the force was not always referring allegations of discrimination to the IPCC, in line with legal requirements. We are pleased the force has already taken action to address this problem. The officers and staff we spoke with were confident that they understood and felt able to challenge discrimination. Investigations into allegations of discrimination are generally of a high quality with a good overall level of service provided to the complainant.

Greater Manchester Police works hard to treat its workforce with fairness and respect. Senior leaders seek feedback and challenge through a range of channels, and the force is good at communicating improvements made as a result. We found that the workforce had confidence in the grievance process and the force is taking effective action to reduce disproportionality in the workforce. The wellbeing of the workforce continues to be a priority for the force, and the importance of early intervention is acknowledged and understood. All officers and staff with whom we spoke were positive regarding the force response to wellbeing following the terrorist bombing in May 2017. The force approach to managing individual performance remains inconsistent, although this year we were satisfied that line managers are holding regular meetings with their officers and staff. The identification and management of those with leadership potential is also inconsistent. Promotion selection processes have been revised to ensure fairness and eliminate bias and we found confidence among the workforce that such processes are fair, open and accessible.